Workers in Jababeka Area Attacked

The Bekasi Workers’ Association has slammed recent attacks launched by a group of people on several workers’ posts in the Jababeka Industrial Area, Cikarang, Bekasi.

Budi Wardoyo, Bekasi Workers Joint Secretary Labor spokesman, believed the attacks were launched based on an order from a certain party and not based on the attackers’ own initiative.

“Previously there were leaflets circulating that warned workers to stop staging demonstrations because they disrupted the security in the area,” Budi told BeritaSatu.com on Monday.

Budi believed the attacks were in response to the workers’ demonstrations. Authorities and government already knew about the plan but chose not to take any preventive measures to protect the workers, he said, adding that since Sunday night, a group of people had attacked several workers’ posts in Jababeka.

“The thugs began by searching Samsung workers, some of them were stopped and hit,” Budi said. “They stopped not only at that but the attackers also took off the workers’ clothes, those who wore the labor forum uniform.”

According to Budi, the attackers, who called themselves the United Bekasi Community Forum, had asked workers to sign an agreement to stop staging demonstrations and to accept the outsourcing system.

Franky Sibarani, the deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), said the attacks did not work in the interest of the businessmen.

“Businessmen look at the global situation, what the market situation is like. If the industry stops they have to make a recovery. So their focus is production,” Franky told BeritaSatu.com. He said that six factories had closed down following workers’ demonstrations since the beginning of the year, and he called on the government to take swift measures in law enforcement and security to keep investors in the country.

Meanwhile, around 100,000 workers from 200 companies in Bogor who are grouped under 14 workers’ unions, held a strike and surrounded Bogor district head’s office. Protesters demanded district chief Rachmat Yasin to step down because he refused to meet the demonstrators and also failed to meet their demand to ban the outsourcing system and raise the district’s monthly minimum wage to Rp 3.2 million ($333). “Our current wage is Rp 1.2 million, and we will not stop fighting for higher wages and the elimination of the outsourcing system,” said Djuher Effendi, coordinator of the demonstration.

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